Which Melting pot is Better in Australia

[Peter74]

Hi all, Im new to casting and looking at buying a setup but not sure which one to go for as i have heard alot about the power difference here playing up with the thermostat etc... so i will ask you all which is the best for here in australia? thank you in advance.

[MT Chambers]

Not sure about the dif. in lead temp. between here and oz. but the best pot which is bottom pour is the RCBS PRO-MELT, may be pricey there and you'll prolly end up with the Lee(Leekamatic).

[dikman]

Peter, there's no reason that our power supply (230v) should affect a thermostat any differently than in the US. I have an RCBS ProMelt and a Lee Pro-4, both of which now have PIDs attached, however both were used with their thermostats initially, with no problems.

As MT Chambers said, the RCBS is the better designed pot, but is horrendously expensive here!!! I bought both of mine from the US (although our $ was a bit better then), but the Lee can be found here for about the same cost, when you add in the shipping, as getting it from the US. (The RCBS will probably still work out cheaper from the US, though). The main reason I bought the Lee o/s was because I couldn't get one anywhere in Oz!!!.

If you do order one from the US, make sure you get the 220v version.

[220]

Just buy the 20lb lee and build yourself a PID.
Mine is about 10 years old, probably had a tonne of lead through it and Im still waiting for it to develop the incurable leak.

[Wal']

^^^^^^^^
Ditto on the Lee 20, only had mine 2 years and still looking for that damn leak.

[dikman]

I forgot, Peter - welcome to the forum. You'll find everything you ever wanted to know about casting on here (and a lot of other stuff too).

[Peter74]

Thanks guys looking forward to starting up

[220]

What guns are you looking at casting for?

There is a mountain of great info here, almost to much when you are new to it all.
Casting is one of those things that can be simple or as complicated as you like.

[dikman]

220 is right - simple, as in a saucepan/pot over a flame and a soup ladle to pour (how I started, and it worked fine), which then leads into - bottom pour with PID control (or two bottom pours with three PID controllers :roll:).

The Lee Pro-4 is $150 at a local gun shop (which is what mine cost me from the US about a year ago) and I was quoted $770 for the RCBS!!!!

[rollmyown]

I agree with the others. Just get a Lee 20lb bottom pour to start with. It will serve you well. depending on what you need to cast for, you'll probably end up with others for convenience using other alloy mixes.

[Peter74]

I am wanting to cast some 9mm projectiles as i shoot IPSC and go through quite alot of rounds. plus i just want to get the enjoyment of casting my own.